Lessons from the Garden: Uprooting what Doesn’t Belong June 8, 2026   One of the hardest truths about gardening is that there is no magical cure for weeds.   The gardening world debates endlessly — landscaping fabric versus chemicals versus cardboard, pesticides versus organic solutions. But at the end of the day, weeds will continue to grow.   “A weed is just an undesired plant” is a romantic saying I sometimes hear while searching for better solutions. It sounds beautiful, but it is usually spoken by someone who doesn’t garden.   The truth is, weeds choke out what you are actually trying to grow. They take over space that was never meant for them.     Gardeners spend enormous time, energy, and resources trying to manage them. We’ve tried chemicals that harm the very ecosystem we’re trying to build. We’ve tried smothering with plastic cloth, only for weeds to eventually break through.   What I’ve settled on is the least glamorous but most sustainable method: hand pulling, soil cultivation, and mulch.   It takes time. ...READ POST

Lessons from the Garden: Making Peace with Imperfection June 1, 2026   What do you do when the thing you once loved begins to feel impossible to maintain?   For me, Lacey, my garden is too big for my current capacity. There are too many weeds, too many unfinished projects, too many ideas waiting to be brought to life. But the Texas heat is relentless, and my stamina is limited.     For a while, I thought about giving up completely. I wanted a perfect garden — every flower bed tidy, every angle beautiful, every weed under control. But no matter how hard I pushed myself, I couldn’t make it happen.   Eventually, I felt the Lord asking me a question: “Are you willing to make peace with an imperfect garden, or will you abandon it entirely because it cannot be perfect?”   That question exposed something deeper in me.   I realized I had spent much of my life believing my value came from striving harder, working longer, and pushing through my ...READ POST

Thank You for Praying for Our Family March 16, 2026 I wanted to personally say thank you for praying for our family during this incredibly difficult season.   Over the past couple of months, we’ve been walking through one of the most painful and unexpected chapters of our lives. In the middle of all of it, the encouragement, prayers, and kindness from people like you have meant more than I can really express. When something this personal comes into the light, it can feel very lonely.   Right now, our family is taking the time we need to process, grieve, and begin the long work of recovery, healing, and rebuilding trust. It’s not a quick or simple road, but I’m deeply grateful for the care that has been extended toward me, the counseling our girls have received, and the counseling and accountability Nathan has chosen. We’ve surrounded ourselves with people who love us and who are committed to helping our family move toward healing ...READ POST

Announcement & Prayer Request February 6, 2026There is no easy way to start this description. So I will get right into it. On January 16, 2026, it came to light that I had been engaging in inappropriate conversations with a woman and with chatbots through apps and texting, seeking and soliciting inappropriate images. Our daughters first discovered this, and in that moment, I did not tell them the truth. It was only after several hours of conversation between Lacey and me that the full extent of what had been happening came to light. This is in addition to something we shared with our board in the fall of 2025 — that I had returned to pornography for about 9 months after experiencing sixteen years of freedom. There is no excuse for the choices I made. They were sinful, manipulative, deceptive, and deeply hurtful to my wife and girls. Bringing this into the light is incredibly painful and embarrassing to my ...READ POST

What surfaced when the noise stopped? January 26, 2026 If you’re finishing this social media fast, the most important question isn’t “Did I make it 21 days?”   It’s “What surfaced when the noise stopped?”   For many of us, stepping away didn’t just remove scrolling — it revealed things that were already there. Emotions we’d been numbing. Thoughts we’d been ignoring. Longings we hadn’t even realized.   Social media didn’t create those things; it helped us avoid them. So let me ask a few honest questions — not for guilt, but for clarity. What showed up in the silence? Was it boredom? Anxiety? Loneliness? Relief? Creativity? A sense of loss? Those things matter. They tell you what social media has been managing for you.   Where did you feel the pull to be seen or affirmed? When the likes disappeared, did anything in you feel unsettled or unworthy? That doesn’t mean you’re shallow — it means you’re human. The question simply reveals where the affirmation of other humans has been taking precedence ...READ POST

Why giving up social media feels harder than it should! January 19, 2026 If you’re reading this and you’re in our third week (view previous emails by clicking here) of a January social media fast, I want to say this first: this isn’t about guilt or comparison. This fast isn’t a test — it’s an invitation to awareness, freedom, and rest.   Most of us don’t stay on social media because we love it. We stay because it meets very real emotional needs — and exposes some quiet fears we don’t always like to admit.   Here are a few of the real reasons stepping away feels so difficult.   First, we’re afraid of missing out. We want to be “in the know” — about news, trends, family updates, and cultural conversations. There’s an unspoken fear that if we log off, we’ll fall behind or be out of touch. But staying constantly informed doesn’t actually make us wiser; it usually just makes us more anxious. Scripture reminds us that wisdom ...READ POST

If not social media… then what? January 12, 2026 One of the biggest hesitations I had in leaving social media 5 years ago wasn’t about the scrolling — it was the relationships.   “How will I keep up with my friends and what they’re doing?”   “What about staying in touch with my family?”   “What if I miss something important? I don’t want to hurt their feelings by not knowing.”   These were real concerns.   For many of us, social media has become the default way to stay connected — especially with extended family, old friends, or people we don’t often see. For me, the choice to step back didn’t mean choosing isolation. It was an intentional choice to engage in more meaningful and healthier forms of relational connection.   In the years since saying goodbye to social media, these are some simple alternatives that have created more meaningful relationships, not fewer:   Call Someone. Yes, actually call. Believe me, it feels awkward at first because we’re out of practice, but hearing ...READ POST

What If You Fasted This Instead? January 5, 2026 Most of us start the year thinking about diets, budgets, or gym memberships. All good things. But what if the most transformative fast to begin the year isn’t about food at all?   What if it’s about attention?   Social media isn’t neutral. It shapes what we fear, what we compare, what we celebrate, and what we carry emotionally. Even a few minutes of scrolling can quietly train our minds toward outrage, envy, anxiety, or distraction. And the hard truth is this: what you consistently give your attention to is what eventually disciples you.   That’s why a 21-day social media fast can be one of the healthiest ways to start the year.   Twenty-one days isn’t about punishment or proving a point. It’s long enough to notice what social media has been doing to you — yet short enough to feel possible. Research indicates that it takes approximately three weeks to break patterns of dependency and start ...READ POST

Holiday (Christmas) Newsletter & We’ve started a non-profit! December 29, 2025 As we come to the close of another year, we want to take a moment to share a bit of the story behind the work you’ve been engaging with — and where it’s headed.   BUT FIRST — our daughter, Arianna, created our family’s Holiday/Christmas card and I wanted to share it with you. Simply click the following link to view our family’s Christmas Newsletter! https://www.canva.com/design…   Cultivate Relationships, LLC was created to develop biblical teaching, discipleship tools, and ministry resources designed to help people experience healing, freedom, and transformation in Jesus. Over time, as churches and leaders began using these resources, a consistent need became clear: churches didn’t just need content — they needed training, structure, and support to implement ministry safely, biblically, and well.   Out of that need, we’re excited to announce that this year, Cultivate Ministries, Inc. was formed as a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Cultivate Ministries exists to take the resources we create ...READ POST

3 final Christmas “facts” most Christians get wrong… December 22, 2025 As I wrap up this series on Christmas “facts” Christians get wrong, I want to keep gently poking at some of the things we assume we “know” about Christmas but often get wrong. Not to ruin traditions — but to help us see how much deeper, richer, and more intentional this season really is.   Here are three final Christmas facts that usually surprise people:   7. Jesus was almost certainly not born on December 25. The Bible never gives us a date for Jesus’ birth. December 25 was chosen centuries later, not to baptize paganism, but to anchor Christian celebration around the incarnation in a world already structured by festivals and calendars. Early Christians weren’t trying to sneak pagan worship into the church — they were intentionally centering time itself around Jesus’ arrival. Christmas was less about historical precision and more about theological proclamation: God entered human history.   8. “Peace on earth” didn’t mean the ...READ POST